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WHEN ISAACUS ADZOXORNU HEADED
to Sydney's northern beaches with a group of 10
senior compliance professionals for ACI's five day
residential CCP course last year, he didn't expect to
end up with a new approach to the understanding of
compliance and risk management.
But that is what he is now implementing in a
"piecemeal and gradual manner" at BOQ Finance.
"I came back armed with the knowledge to
make my organisation look at compliance as
a part of our risk management systems," he says. "My
organisation is not doing badly, but when you are
benchmarking against industry standards there is
always room for improvement."
Adzoxor nu joined BOQ Fina nce (Aust) Limited,
a consumer and commercial credit company in 2010.
Consumers are provided credit to finance the
purchase or lease of personal assets, including
motor vehicles, motor cycles, boats a nd computer s.
Commercial credit is provided towards commercial
hire purchases, finance leases, novated leases, rental
and operating leases and inventory finance.
Adzoxornu said he won the graduate award because
he did well in both the final assignment and class
participation, but emphasises that the CCP cou rse is
"not about who ends up being at the top".
"The community expects that financial institutions
will implement good governance structures and
processes and observe certain ethical standards
to protect the interests of their customers and
shareholder s.
"I'd wanted to validate being a compliance
professional through an organisation that could
certify that I was okay. The course makes you
move outside the regulatory framework to look at
compliance, not as something you do to just keep
The course
makes you
move outside
the regulatory
framework
to look at
compliance
[as] not just
about making
the regulator
happy but
assisting the
organisation
achieve its
goals and
objectives.
Blueprint for Graduate of the Year
Dr Isaacus Adzoxornu, BOQ Finance's Compliance Manager, Risk,
in Sydney, did the Certified Compliance Professional (CCP) Residential
- Vocational Graduate Certificate in Compliance Management in March
2012. His outstanding results and classroom commitment earned him
CCP Graduate of the Year at the annual ACI awards in November.
BY DENISE MCNABB
the regulator happy, but as an integral part of an
organisation's risk management systems. Once
an organisation has defined its goals, it needs to
consider all significant risks that may prevent the
organisation from achieving those objectives. Non-
compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
and failure to implement and enforce a good code
of conduct are some of the risks that may prevent an
organisation from achieving its goals or objectives."
Adzoxornu has worked in general and
specialist compliance roles for 15 years in
Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. This has
been in the capacity as consultant and as risk and
compliance manager with credit unions, banks
and in funds management.
Like many in this field, he started in law as a
barrister in Victoria and the ACT before deciding a
legal career "wasn't my cup of tea."
"Complia nce is not always about law. It's also
about ensuring your organisation meets industry
and accepted community and ethical standards
and the organisation's own principles of good
governance. To do this successfully a compliance
professional needs to understand human behaviour
and how to interact with people internally to
deliver those compliance outcomes," he says,
A legal background stood Adzoxornu in good stead
when he first sought entry into the compliance
profession and in his role as a consultant during the
transition to the Financial Services Reform regime.
"I became intimately acquainted with the
Australian Financial Services licensing process and
understood the regulator's expectations when I
started working at BOQ Finance. My initial brief
was to assist a project team apply for two Australian
credit licences," he says. •••